Combined container and dispensing cap

ABSTRACT

A COMBINED CONTAINER AND DISPENSING CAP THEREOF IN WHICH THE CONTAINER IS COMPRESSIBLE AND THE CAP IS PROVIDED WITH A PROJECTABLE AND RETRACTABLE SPOUT, THE LATTER BEING PROJECTED OUTWARDLY OF THE CAP BY PRESSURE BEING APPLIED TO THE CONTAINER TO DISPENSE THE CONTENTS THEREOF AND RETRACTED WITHIN THE CAP UPON RELEASE OF SUCH PRESSURE AND A VALVE MEANS IN THE SPOUT OPENING UPON APPLICATION OF PRESSURE TO THE CONTAINER AND CLOSING UPON RELEASE OF SAID PRESSURE.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Robert Childs 3,012,695 12/1961Lerner 222/211 282 N r h POiIIt R0811 Bflltimurfi 3.193,154 7/1965 Bross222/213X .2 2 2 l A I No Primary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman AssistantExaminerLarry Martin {22] Filed July 18, 1969 A J w l E a dc; L B h [45]Patemed June 28' 971 0rneyses ey vcre an eorge re m [54] COMBINEDCONTAINER AND DISPENSING CAP 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

222/96 ABSTRACT: A combined container and dispensing cap [51 1 Int.therefor in the container is compressible and the cap is 0 Search roided a rojectabie and retractable pout the latter 2073632111195 beingprojected outwardly of the cap by pressure being applied to thecontainer to dispense the contents thereof and [56] References Cnedretracted within the cap upon release of such pressure and 21 UNITEDSTATES PATENTS valve means in the spout opening upon application ofpressure 2,611,515 9/1952 Smith 222/213 to the container and closingupon release of said pressure.

COMBINED CON'IMNER AND DlSPENSlNG CA? This invention relates to combinedcontainer and dispensing cap therefor and more especially to acollapsible container and a dispensing cap which is particularlysuitable for substances which are semiliquid or of a creamy nature, suchas tooth paste, cosmetic creams and like materials.

Collapsible containers for creamy substances are well known in the artbut most of these devices have drawbacks, not the least of which istheir tendency, after use, to leave portions of the contents exposed inthe vicinity of their dispensing openings or spouts to present anunclean or messy appearance or, worse still, to lay the contents open tocontamination.

Applicant's invention overcomes these disadvantages of conventiondispensing containers by providing a movable valved spout on thecontainer cap which spout is normally contained within the cap butwhich, when pressure is applied to the container, will not only open thevalve to allow discharge of the contents but will cause the spout to beprojected outwardly of the cap to allow for easy application of theemitted contents to its place of intended use and when pressure on thecontainer is released will cause the valve to close and the spout to beretracted into the cap and there be protected and out of sight.

it is one object, therefore, to provide a container and cap having thefunctions above stated and which may be economically produced andmarketed.

lt is another object to produce such a container and cap with a minimumof separate parts thereby requiring the simplest of assembly operations.

The above and other objects and advantages will become more apparent asthis description proceeds and reference is had to the accompanyingdrawing forming a part of this specification and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a combined container and dispensing capaccording to my invention showing the discharge spout in projectedposition;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view thereof with the dischargespout in retracted position;

PK]. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the valve portion ofthe spout;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the valve; and

FlG. 5 is a perspective view of the cap with the spout retracted.

Referring in detail to the drawings, represents a collapsible containerwhich may be made of plastic, rubber or any suitable resilient material,and is here shown as having corrugated or accordion pleated sidewalls llto permit its longitudinal collapse. A cap member 12 closes the upperend of the container and may be fastened thereto by any suitable meanssuch as the threads 13 as is well known in the art of container caps.The cap 12 has a central internal bore 14 in which the spout member 15is slidably mounted. The spout is tapered at its end as shown at 16 andis provided with a reduced extension 1.! somewhat rectangular in crosssection. An opening 18 extends through the spout member l5 and outthrough the reduced extension l7. The inner end of the opening throughthe spout is enlarged at 19 into a counterbore and a valve thimble orferrule 20 is secured in this counterbore by a press fit or by a bead 21on the ferrule snapping into a groove 22 in the counterbore.

The end of the ferrule is flanged inwardly at 23 and retains the valvemember 24 for limited sliding movement in the ferrule. As may be seenfrom FIGS. 3 and 4 the valve member has a round head 25 and a cruciformextension 26 projecting from one side of the head 25, which extensionprojects through the inturned flange 23 in the ferrule and acts as aguide for the valve member. Small nubs 27 at the ends of the arms of thecruciform extension retain the valve member in the ferrule for limitedlongitudinal movement between open and closed positlOllS.

The spout 15 is provided at its end opposite the extension 17 with acorrugated diaphragm 28 whose outer periphery is secured in sealingengagement with the cap 12 and which not only supports the spout in thebore 14 in the cap but seals the cap and container and preventsdischarge of the container contents except through the valve 24 andpassage 18 in the spout.

The diaphragm 28 being flexible will react to any pressure on thecontents of the container to bulge upwardly as shown in dotted lines inFIG. 2 and move the spout upwardly in equal amount. The bore 14 in thecap is closed at its upper end by a thin wall 29. This wall is slottedwith a relatively long slot 30 in a diametrical direction withtransverse slots 3] and 32 at the ends of the slot 30. As the materialof the cap is flexible and somewhat resilient, the slots thus formedwill provide two tongues or lips 33 and 34 which may be deflectedupwardly as shown in FIG. I. In fact, when pressure is applied to thecontainer the spout 15 will be forced upwardly and the reduced extension17 will press against the lips 33 and 34 to deflect them to an openposition allowing the extension I7 to project therethrough. At the sametime the valve 24 will open to allow some of the contents of thecontainer to be discharged. Upon release of the pressure on thecontainer the inherent tendency of the container to expand to itsoriginal size will cause the valve 24 to close and diaphragm 28 toflatten out, thereby retracting the extension 17 of the spout within thecap and allowing the lips 33 and 34 to close.

While the closure may be particularly adaptable for use with corrugatedcontainers it may be used with other types of collapsible pressurecontainers.

When the closure is used with a collapsible corrugated container thecontainer is collapsed by pressing the bottom upwardly toward theclosure. As the contents of the container are depressed the container iscollapsed to a point where the corrugations are completely in contactwith each other wherein the user may estimate the amount of the contentsleft therein by the height of the container. The tendency .of thecontainer to move outwardly to its previous height will create a vacuumclosing the valve 24 after which the container will not expand furtherbut as stated herein before as more and moreof the contents are removedthe nearer the corrugations of the container move toward each otheruntil the container is fully collapsed.

lclaim:

1. In combination:

a. a resiliently collapsiblecontainer;

b. a cap for said container having an opening therethrough;

c. a spout member movably mounted in said opening from a first positionentirely within said cap to a second position in which the end of saidspout member projects beyond the end of the cap; and

d. means within said cap and supporting said spout member and responsiveto pressure applied to said container to collapse the same to move saidspout member from said first position to said second position.

2. The structure defined in claim I in which said means supporting saidspout comprises a flexible diaphragm mounted in said cap with said spoutmember centrally attached thereto whereby pressure in said containerwill cause deflection of said diaphragm and consequent movement of saidspout member.

3. The structure defined in claim 2 in which a check valve is mounted inthe spout, said check valve permitting flow through the spout in anoutward direction only.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in which the cap has a closure meansfor the opening therethrough said spout member abutting said closuremeans to open the same when pressure is applied to said container tomove the spout member to said second position.

5. The structure defined in claim 4 in which the closure means comprisesat least one flexible lip member extending across the opening in saidcap, said flexible lip member being deflectable by said spout member asit moves to said second position.

6. In combination;

a. a resilient corrugated collapsible container having an opening at oneend thereof for dispensing a semifluid product by collapsing thecontainer;

position to second position;

a valve within the said opening for allowing the product to passoutwardly from the container when compressed and closed by a slightreverse movement of the container, within said container will beretained substantially in the same compressed position as initiallycompressed after said valve is closed.

